NOTE: Iris uses he/she/they. To keep things less confusing, I’ll use she/they or he/they exclusively in each chapter so that things don’t get confusing during scenes where Iris is interacting with others/others are speaking about Iris. So, during this chapter, I’ll use he/they, and in the chapter where they appropriately switch, I’ll switch to she/they. So on and so forth.

The ceiling fan spun slowly, slightly rocking back and forth as some of the screws were hanging out of place. The cool air breezed past Iris’ arms, a shiver running down his spine. It was cold. Iris didn’t particularly want to sit up, let alone get up to turn the fan off. It was another exhausting morning and they’d rather just close their eyes and fall back asleep, and they nearly had before hearing a faint scratching sound, their ear flicking outwards to find the direction it came from. His head turned sideways to look at the door. A soft meow could be heard from the other side. It seemed Iris’ plan was foiled. They picked themself up, got out of bed, put their shirt on over their head, and walked to the door. When he opened it, Primrose, his lovely little kitty, sat at the door, her head tilted to the side as if she hadn’t just been decimating the bottom of his door. Primrose was a blue ragdoll kitty, with mostly white fur that was nearly overshadowed by the gray fur that overtook her face, ears, paws, and tail. Just as her name implied, she was a prim little thing and she took her role as Iris’ cat in stride despite the fact that she’d previously been a street cat. She definitely wasn’t meant for the streets. Prim had been picked up off the side of a road, presumably abandoned by her mother as she was all alone and quite small at the time, and after some proper care and love, and a vet visit to make sure she wouldn’t come with any surprises, she’d been gifted to Iris.

Prim had been Iris’ first and only pet and they cherished her every bit. Iris was often exhausted and downright stressed from his weekly schedule, but he made the time for Prim, she was his everything. He walked past her, towards the kitchenette and pulled out a can of her cat food from the pantry. It took mere seconds after Iris popped the lid off for Prim to be at his feet, twirling between his legs and meowing her head off for a meal. Iris chuckled lightly, picked up her bowl from beside the island, and poured the contents of the can into it. He placed it on the mat and she sprinted for her bowl, eating away as if she’d never eaten a meal in her entire life. Iris crouched to watch her for a few minutes, their head leaning on the wall. For a while, watching Prim had settled their mind but the muffled buzzing of Iris’ phone brought them back to the world. They looked over their shoulder towards the hallway where their bedroom was and they squinted. He could ignore the call, he knew who it was and why they were calling. He stayed there, listening to the buzz before it faded out. Iris’ shoulders relaxed a little when the minutes ticked by and another call did not come through. Perhaps it had just been a telemarketer. But the phone began to buzz again, to Iris’ dismay.

Iris sighed, heaving himself from the ground and walking back to his room. He approached the bed and pulled back the sheets, peering down at his phone. The phone screen lit up as it buzzed, the caller ID showing “Adrien Calling…”. Iris rolled his eyes, he’d known it was him. He sat in front of the phone and stared at it. Answer it. He shook his head, he’d rather ignore it. Answer it. He ran his paws through his hair, his tail lashing side to side. Answer the phone. Iris growled under his breath, picking up the phone and sliding the answer button across the screen.
They held the phone up to their ear. “Hello?” They said, hoping they didn’t sound overly exasperated to be answering.

“Answer your phone faster next time,” Adrien’s voice rang out. “Were you still asleep?”

“No,” Iris replied. “I was just feeding Prim…what do you want?” He sat back on the bed, relaxing against the pillows. His hand caught a loose thread on his shirt and he gently tugged at it.

“You don’t need to come in tonight and tomorrow,” Adrien said. “Alice is on tonight and yes, we have enough servers. You’re finally getting those nights off you’ve been bitching about for weeks.”

“What else do you want?” Iris' eyes crinkled as he awaited the answer, his hand now fully pulling on the thread of his shirt. “If that was it, you would’ve just texted me.”

Adrien huffed out a laugh. “Perceptive as always. We have a few guests coming to the club in a few days. I’m informing everyone tonight but since you won’t be in, I thought I should call. And make sure you stay on your best behavior, these clients are getting paid a fortune to be here. They’re helping design the attire for February.”

Ugh, February. Iris loathed it. The weeks leading up to the 14th of the month were all dedicated to Valentine’s Day, despite it only needing a day to celebrate. VIPs and potential well-paying customers increased during this time because The Crimson Red was well-known for its amped-up events, drinks, and service during the “month of love”. It was also usually filled to the brim with more handsy pests than usual, especially during opening week when people were really riled up to get into the event early. Touchy-feely types came in, who hoped to meet the one those nights and score a babe that would get them laid. Iris’ first year working during the month ended with them nearly knocking out a customer because their hand slipped a little too far up the skirt. One of the girls took the blame and apologized on Iris’ behalf but it was a mess dealing with customers who’d bear the brunt of Iris’ anger. And it would only result in Iris having to bear Adrien's afterward.

“Can I just have my days off when it rolls around?” Iris asked, scratching at their head in frustration. “I’d rather wait for it than go in that first night.”

“No, we need all hands on deck that first week, and taking a day off during February means even less pay. You know you get paid well during it, and you definitely need the money. I’d rather you didn’t try to snake your way out of this.” Adrien’s emphasis on the words with a snarkiness to it, as if teasing at Iris, made Iris scowl.

“Adrien, I don’t want to go those first few nights, I’ll work all the rest, I just can’t be there the first few days, please.” They hated begging but disliked the idea of being the center of attention on the first rush, which never ended well. Iris had to perform on opening night as one of the top entertainers, but they’d rather miss out on a big cash flow if they could get some peace before the rest of the month rolled in. It would give them time to mentally pull it together and hopefully compose themself enough to not go off on a customer, which would surely just trouble the others as they always took the blame when Iris got heated. As much as Iris hated the place, he hated being a nuisance more even when the others assured them that they were valid in their anger. If Iris could distance themself enough to make things easier, they’d try their best.

“You know our deal, Iris. You come in when I tell you to, you’re off when I say you are.” Adrien had no sign of amusement in his voice anymore. “You’re coming in or I’ll have you off for two weeks.”

“Can’t you cut me some slack, I do what you ask every other week.” Iris started to argue.

“Do you want me to make it a month? You really think you can afford that much time off work?” Adrien hissed back.

Iris’ mouth shut, the thought of that much money lost wasn’t worth the trouble. He breathed in deep, his brows furrowing. “...Fine. I’ll come in.” He sat up, giving in. He couldn’t argue anymore even if he really wanted to push. “Happy?”

“Mm, very. Enjoy your time off, I’ll text you on Sunday.” He gave Iris no time to respond and hung up. Iris sat there, phone still in hand, rubbing the bridge of his nose. If he worked at any other place, the current situation wouldn’t be the case, but he worked at Crimson Red, his personal hell on Earth.

With the call over and their schedule clear for a couple of days, they tried to focus in on the free space in the week that gave them. They were still half awake so perhaps, having a meal, a hot shower, and a clearer head would help to process how they could spend their time. They got out of bed again, heading back out to get something in their stomach.